Copper
by magicmumu
Summary: When the Twelfth Doctor regenerates, the newest adventure might be more than either of them expected. Thirteenth Doctor/Brenda Johnson (Femslash)


Copper

by Erin Griffin

Fandom: The Closer/Doctor Who Crossover

Pairing: Brenda/Sharon, Clara/Doctor BrOTP because reasons

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Like seriously. I am a broke ass mother fucker so...

A/N: Written for my homie and for the love of Sharon Raydor's hair. (Spoilers, sweeties!) The idea of this came from the line 'I see my girls in you' when I was thinking of a female Doctor, and then this happened. Please forgive me if things are off or wrong. I have only seen two episodes of The Closer and had no beta, a deadly combination for a fanfic writer IMO. Also, I don't know how Peter Capaldi will play the new Doctor, and it probably won't be in the way I have written him. This is not a reflection of any thoughts on either Capaldi or the Twelfth Doctor. Even so, I hope you enjoy it.

"Doctor, you're being reckless!" Clara called over the whirring- screaming more like - of the TARDIS as it hurled them through time and space. She wasn't sure just who woke up after the goofy man she met had died and regenerated, but he scared her. She stuck by him because she felt he needed someone to be there for him, and he hadn't got anyone else. That was his entire problem. His wife, best mates, and even his own body was gone. Anything he had left to fight for was right there in that TARDIS and he didn't even seem to care. Clara knew that if this kept up, he too would be gone. She wondered often since their first adventure together what would become of her if this final body died, as she was sure it would, sooner rather than later. They would probably be on some distant galaxy, and the TARDIS was linked to the Doctor. Should he die, surely the TARDIS would as well, and then where would Clara be?

"I can easily take you home, Clara. It would be of no consequence to me," the man yelled back. Clara stumbled as something else crashed into the TARDIS. She winced at the screech that came from her. "DOCTOR!"

Twelve rounded on her. "I cannot drive her when you're prattling in my ear and screaming at me from the back seat! SIT DOWN!" he ended his words in a bellow, eyes wide and intense as was their default, and not for the first time just that day alone, she was scared silent. She clenched her teeth and stumbled further to the one chair in the control room, and tried to tune out the sound of the TARDIS' screams-

Suddenly, the TARDIS shook violently, so much so that Clara was afraid it would rip itself apart trying to both comply with this new angry man and her own need for survival. Clara knew, though, that without Twelve, there was no TARDIS, and as much as the two were one, Clara wished otherwise. She didn't always get along with the grand spacecraft, but she couldn't deny that it was alive, and that she deserved more respect that the new Doctor had shown her. Clara looked around for the man and saw that he had been thrown to the floor and had decided to start repairs while he was down there. Even as the TARDIS went still and the engine seemed to power down, Clara stayed put. She didn't speak, and allowed the man to do what he ought. She stewed in her fear and anger, considering allowing Twelve to do what he had promised - threatened, which was to return her home. "Don't pout. It annoys me when you do that." When Clara remained silent, Twelve scrambled to his feet. "You givin' me the cold one, Clara?" he asked.

"I wasn't sure if you were talking to me or her," Clara said, gesturing to the space around her and indicating the TARDIS.

"Why would I- Of course I was talking to you, you crazy little thing. Are you going to sit there and pout all day?"

"I was thinking of retiring to my room. Perhaps if I pout there, it would annoy you less," Clara retorted. Twelve rolled his eyes.

"If it isn't one of you it's the other. And now it's both-a you. A man can't catch a break."

"Where are we?" Clara asked to derail the man's possibly sexist rant.

Twelve for once didn't reply with something sarcastic. In fact, he seemed to have forgotten that the TARDIS had, in fact, landed. "Says we're... in Los Angeles." His mouth twisted, showing Clara that he was not only surprised but a little impressed. "Always wanted to go there, didn't you?" Twelve asked, patting the control panels. There was a large spark in response. "Alright, alright. I get the hint." Twelve looked over to Clara again. "Looks like we're taking a vacation in Los Angeles. Come on, we should go to a food truck. I'm done in." He brought his hands up in surrender and backed away from the console. Only then did the sparks dissipate. He shrugged. "I'll give you some time to calm down. Come on," he said again.

He took Clara's hand and dragged her out of the chair. She scurried after him, stopping only once to turn behind her to say a quick, "sorry" to the TARDIS in hopes this would ease whatever it was that the spacecraft was feeling at the moment to make her go on strike. She didn't blame the TARDIS one bit. "We need to stop at an ATM, and it looks like early afternoon," Clara said, more to herself than to Twelve.

"Right, right..." He took in a deep breath and sighed out. "I love the smell of 2014," he said. Clara scowled, but she didn't say anything. She took her hand back and continued to walk beside him. She followed him to the nearest ATM, blocking the view from people on the busy sidewalk from seeing him use the sonic screwdriver. When he backed away a few seconds later, he handed Clara a stack of green bills as if they were diseased. She didn't need to count it to know that she could go shopping for hours and still have much to spare, but as she did the other times he did this to her, she knew end up spending enough to get them food and new running shoes before donating the rest of it. She stuffed it all as much as she could into her pockets, knowing that they bulged out and made her look quite strange, anyway. Clara sighed. The man was the one with the 'bigger on the inside' pockets, and yet SHE always ended up the keeper of the cash.

Clara continued to walk behind the Doctor, here and there shoving the money further into her jacket and finding other places where she could tuck some of the wayward bills. "I'm not doing a good job of this," she said under her breath.

Twelve stopped walking and looked at her. He seemed a little bit annoyed still, but he took pity on her and held out his hands. When Clara dumped some of the money in his hands, he stuffed them in his pockets easily, with no bulges whatsoever. "Better?"

"Mm," she replied with a quick head nod.

"Good." Twelve's mouth twitched, and then he turned away and began walking. "I think we are near Koreatown. Ever have galbi before?"

"I don't even know what that is," Clara admitted.

"You will in a bit," Twelve promised. Clara couldn't help but to feel a little less miffed at the man as the two of them continued to walk with the foot traffic. Twelve then looked up at the nearest sign and said, "Ah." He opened the door and allowed Clara to walk in before him, and the two of them froze in their step.

"이동! 휴일! 우리는 끝났어요*!"

"Doctor?" Clara asked. For the first time since traveling with the Doctor, she didn't know what someone was saying to her, and this confused her. Shouldn't the TARDIS have translated for them? Was the spacecraft still on strike? Clara heard more shouting from the back, and then the sound of shots firing.

"이동!" the man said again, before he fell, his body losing blood from the fatal gunshot wounds. Clara screamed when the window to the glass door they had walked through shattered as a stray bullet hit. She ducked down, and then looked to Twelve, who had a stunned look upon his face as he stumbled. Clara took his hand and pulled him down with her, as more shots fired. She crawled away from the door and closer to the counter, praying to any deity that would listen. She heard sirens, and she projected her thoughts towards them, hoping they would take care of it.

"Doctor," she hissed, when the man beside her didn't move.

Clara looked up when she heard the glass door open, and two people came in, one a black man in his forties and a blonde woman about the same age. "POLICE! STAY DOWN!" the blonde woman called. For a fraction of a second, the blonde's gun pointed at Clara, who whimpered and ducked down further. At the sound of shouting in what Clara guessed to be Korean, both cops raised their guns towards the back. The blonde looked to her partner and made a gesture. She then squat down next to Clara. She took in a deep breath as her eyebrows scrunched in confusion. She looked Clara over. "Miss... Raydor," she said in slight surprise. Clara returned the look.

"You know me?" she asked. There was recognition in the police woman's eyes, but she had called her by a name she had never heard before.

"I just- I..." The blonde woman tried again. "My name is Chief Brenda Johnson with the LAPD. Are you alright?" Clara nodded. She had been at the end of lasers, phasers and sharp teeth, but never something so human as a gun before. She looked over to Twelve and gasped as she saw the blood on the floor next to him.

"Doctor? DOCTOR!"

"Sir?" Brenda crawled over to Twelve, and placed two fingers to his neck. "It's okay, I feel a pulse. It is faint though-"

"J-Just one?" Clara asked.

"Of course," Brenda responded. She looked over to Clara, a small frown on her face as she considered the young woman. "I'm going to call an ambulance for you and your f...riend here-"

Twelve's eyes shot open and he sat up all in the same quick motion. "No... No! This is impossible-!"

"Sir, it is gonna be okay. My name is Chief-"

Twelve pushed Brenda away from him, his wild eyes even more so if at all possible as they sought out Clara. "Duck," he said when his fierce gaze met frightened eyes. Clara knew better. She instantly flattened herself to the floor and covered her head. There was a flash of golden light, which shot from the man wherever skin could normally be seen. His hands, face and neck all turned to the gold light, and he let out a scream. The golden light rushed out in all directions, hitting Chief Brenda Johnson in the chest, and throwing her into the counter of the Korean barbecue restaurant. She slid down the side of the counter, and then went still. The light stopped a moment later. Clara didn't even hear the gunman (gunmen?) in the other part of the restaurant, and assumed that the other policeman had gotten them or that they had run off.

Then, Clara heard a sigh and panting. "Oh..." a new voice sighed out. "Everyone's dead but me. I'm alive. It's impossible. I'm alive. I'm- I'm-" There as the sound of shuffling and moving fabric. "I'm a woman, and I'm... American?" Clara looked up at this. Before her, wearing exactly what the Doctor- her new, reckless and scary Doctor- had warn, stood a new person. This new Doctor was bewildered as she ran her hands over her curves, first the chest and then the hips, before putting her fingers up to her hair. The female Doctor turned her head and connected green eyes with brown. "OH! You're alive! I know you, and you are alive!" The new Doctor moved towards her. "Just- Who are you?"

"Doctor?" Clara asked.

"Your name is Doctor? What a silly name. Who would go about-?"

"Doctor?" Clara asked again.

"Oh, I'm Doctor? Doctor Who? Well, I still say it is silly. I will adopt a new name, but..." The new woman looked down at herself and shook her head. "Impossible." When the woman looked up again, she saw that her companion was pointing at the police woman, who was still slumped against the counter, only now there was a steady stream of blood dripping down the wall, originating from the blonde curls. The woman crawled over to Brenda and placed a hand behind her ear and her fingers came back with blood. She then checked her pulse and gasped. "She's dead," she reported.

"No..." Clara let out.

"I remember... She tried to help me, didn't she?" The woman reached into her pocket, taking out a hand full of American dollars, a rubber chicken, and a Twinky before she found her sonic screwdriver. She pointed it at the woman and checked its base. "High concentration of Gallifreyan DNA upon her outer skin..." she murmured. "She was hit by my regeneration. As if that wasn't enough of a shock to the system, the smack to the head did her in," she said sadly. "How can I be alive? How can she die? I do not understand!" A tear came to the Doctor's green eyes, and Clara crawled slowly next to her.

"There was a woman. A woman born of the TARDIS, do you remember? She was your wife in a different time, and she... She gave her regenerations to you. Perhaps you are living them now," Clara said.

"River. Yes, I think I remember..." Thirteen placed a hand on Brenda's cheek as more tears came. "Doesn't make it fair."

"What do we do? More coppers are sure to come, if not that other man. Doctor, we can't stay here."

"You're right. Come with me, my friend." Thirteen scrambled to her feet and helped Clara up as well.

"Where are we going?"

"We have to go back."

"Back? Where?"

"To before this happened."

"You cannot cross your own time stream, Doctor."

"Like Hell I can't," the woman shot back.

"That is like 'Time Lord 101 - Don't Die, Don't Cross Your Own Time Stream, and Whatever You Do, RUN'!" Clara protested.

"She shouldn't have to die so that I can live. I'm not worth that." Thirteen shot Clara a look, as if to beg the younger woman to argue with her.

The stare down wasn't long, in fact Clara smiled sadly and said, "There's my clever Doctor."

"Where was I before?" the Thirteenth Doctor asked.

"I wish I knew," Clara admitted. The older woman stared for an extra moment before she turned to the body of Chief Brenda Johnson. She sighed and then plucked the badge from the woman's hip. She stared at the name and precinct and then she placed it in her pocket.

"Okay, let's go."

The two women rushed out of the Korean restaurant, hands clasped tightly as they ran. Thirteen waved her sonic screwdriver in the air every once in a while and checked the readings in order to find where she had placed the TARDIS. The first time she had done this, she frowned, looking wildly about, but continued to pull Clara down the street when she saw nothing to confirm the readings she saw. When the two women turned down the corner where the blue police box still stood, Thirteen sighed with relief upon seeing it, and searched her pockets for the key. Not grasping them fast enough for her liking, she snapped her fingers, and the door opened a crack. "Didn't actually think that would work this time around," she muttered, but she opened the door after unclasping her and Clara's hands. Once she saw inside, she frowned. "Oh come on," she said.

Wha-" Clara looked inside and saw that they were staring at one of the many grand hallways inside the TARDIS instead of the central control room.

"She's still mad at me. She's not going to let me into the control room," Thirteen said. "I... I must have really done it this time."

"You don't remember?"

"He wanted to die so much, but he didn't want HER to die," was all Thirteen said as a reply to this. "What do we-" Thirteen stopped and patted her pockets again, but when she came up short, she said, "I can't do anything but wait."

"I don't understand. What are we going to do now?"

"I can't do anything until she lets me. For now, I am going to see where I CAN go and maybe change into something less decrepit."

"Alright."

"I've never been a woman before..." Thirteen said in a low voice. "I suspect it will be an adventure all on its own. Never been an American, either. Even the Scottish accent my tenth form had was better than this!" the woman seemed to whine.

"I can't help you with the accent, but I can help you be a woman. Or at least pass as a human female for a little while."

Thirteen looked to Clara. "Will you?"

"Sure." Clara took the woman's arm and tugged lightly. "Come on."

"Be careful, it's new," Thirteen said.

"If it comes off, you have time to grow another," Clara joked.

Thirteen laughed a little at this. "Right you are, but that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt in the mean time."

"I understand," Clara conceded. "The costumes for us girls companions are stored in here. From what I understand, any male companion, what few you seemed to have, anyway, used their own rooms and often borrowed clothes from you, remember?"

"I'm starting to. A little. Not really. I-It's hazy."

"It will come back," Clara reassured the Doctor. "It always does. Anyway, there's a lot of stuff here- not just girl clothes, either. Plus... Well, I think you left some of your friends' clothes in there, too." Clara lead the way to the dressing room, which turned out to be farther away than she had expected, and even had to look up a directory that the TARDIS had provided for her once she had the courage to ask for one. Finally, they turned into the large room, and Thirteen's eyes widened.

"It has been far too long since I have last stepped foot in here. Has there always been this many costumes?"

"I suspect one gets a lot of shopping done in twelve hundred years," Clara said. She tugged again softly and lead Thirteen to the grand mirror, where the Doctor was finally able to see her new face for the first time.

She gasped and stared in silence.

"I see my girls in you," she told the reflection, her voice low and in awe. She brought her hand up to her copper colored hair. "Donna and Sarah Jane..." Her hands went down to her eyes. "Rose... Oh- Thank you, Martha Jones for your cheek bones!" Thirteen got a little more excited as she went on, touching her lips, her ears, her clavicle... "Susan, Ace- Hey! You and I have twin rear ends!" she called, glancing at Clara in the mirror. She gave said rear a small wiggle. Clara turned around and looked them both over, and though she couldn't quite agree, she couldn't dispute the claim either. Still, the swell was similar. The thirteenth Doctor continued to look herself over, naming the people in her past. "River's- erm... bust." She shifted her chest as her face went pink. "Even Rory?! I got Rory's nose, you wonky thing... Amy... Amy Amelia Pond, where are you...? There you are! Amy's birthmark-! Do not ask me how I know this. Oh! Oh this is glorious! A little mad, but glorious! I see them all! They're all right here! This could be the greatest or cruelest thing to ever happen to me!" Thirteen let out a loud laugh, and then covered her mouth when she caught Clara's eyes again in the mirror. "Sorry. I'm just- Well anyway- Now... What do I wear...?"

Clara pointed at Thirteen and said, "That, I can help you with."

This turned out to be a difficult task. The Doctor, as it turned out, was picky about her clothes. Anything that looked too much like any one companion of her past and she was back to throwing articles on the floor. Clara was reminded of her past as a shop girl during uni and hated the flashbacks she was getting. "No, that's too Ian. Too Romana! Too Clara- No offense, my friend. I just- I want my own look."

"Come on..." Clara said.

"I know! I know. There is a dead copper and I have yet to find anything to wear, let alone accessories. No wonder it takes forever and a day for you lot to get ready, and I have only been a woman for an hour!"

"What kind of accessories?" Clara asked, deciding to distract the Doctor while she waited.

"Something for my face. My eyes. Glasses. I want to wear my tenth incarnation's glasses. Oh! This. It's a bit Donna, but we could all afford to be a little bit Donna, I say," Thirteen said, stepping out from behind the changing curtain to show Clara. Thirteen now wore a black and white pinstriped suit with a white under shirt. The collar of the white shirt stuck out, her reddish brown hair flowing over it. Her stance was confident as she stood with her hands out. "Eh? What do you think?"

"You're right about the glasses."

"Right!" This got the Doctor in action, and Clara found herself following her now, this time through the hallway to a specific part of the TARDIS. "COME ON, OLD GIRL, YOU CAN LET ME IN AT ANY MOMENT!" she called out, but her voice only echoed through the hall. "She's really mad."

"Yeah well, I'll never forget the sound of her screaming like that..."

Thirteen lowered her head at this, and she swallowed. Her pace slowed, and the two of them ended up walking the rest of the way to the Doctor's quarters, where Clara waited outside. She didn't have to wait long- less than a minute, actually. "Now what do you think?" Thirteen asked, having cleaned the glasses and put them on.

"Very sophisticated. I like it," Clara responded honestly. This earned a grand smile now, the Doctor seeming to finally find her place within this new body despite it being a mix of those she had to leave behind in her old lives. She took a couple of steps towards Clara and draped an arm around her shoulders, and the two continued to walk down the hallways, at first in silence. Then, Clara placed a hand on the wall as she passed. "She's different now. Surely you know this. Please..." she said.

"I highly doubt that'll-" The Thirteenth Doctor stopped speaking when the hallway finally found an end, and they turned a corner right into the new control room. Both woman gasped. The control room was bright. The walls were a white-yellow, the familiar hum of life from the TARDIS coming from the center, where a white light emitted from the central engine. It moved slowly, not enough to be on, but similar to a car with only the lights and radio working. It had been several hundred years since the inside of the TARDIS had been so bright, and for Thirteen, it was a ymbol of hope and a new beginning. "Oh you," she said to Clara, hugging her with the one arm over the shoulder and then separating from her. "That DID work. Please excuse me while I go suck up to my old lady."

"As long as she doesn't take offense to you calling her old," Clara replied. She couldn't help the playful edge her voice had taken despite their current mission, whatever that was exactly.

"Classy lady, then," Thirteen amended. She ran her hand over the controls, looking at herself in the shiny new surfaces. "As far as renovations go, this has been the quickest." She looked around and said, "May I?" Then, she flipped a switch and turned a few dials before the familiar whirring of the TARDIS filled the air. The woman's smile widened. "Let's go save us a copper," Thirteen said excitedly. She moved swiftly. "Hey Clara, come here a second. Hold this down while I get us... Wait no, hold THAT one, yeah. Nope, that isn't it either. I'll remember... Sorry, I know, I know... There! Yes. Careful. That one."

"She already doesn't like me much," Clara warned.

"She likes you fine," Thirteen dismissed. "She wouldn't even let you help me fly her if she didn't."

A few moments later, they were still again as the TARDIS brought them to their intended destination. Clara slowly stood to her full height. "We're...?"

"Don't worry, we went back to this morning, long before the shootings. We're going to go to where she works. That way we won't run into US, and we can still help HER."

"How are we going to help her? You can't tell her about the future."

"No, I can't. I have another way, don't worry. Just follow my lead. Do you trust me?" Thirteen asked.

Clara looked briefly into green eyes and nodded. She did trust this new woman just as much as the man in the bow tie. She reached out to Thirteen's shoulder and forced the woman to look at her now. "I do trust you, but-"

The older woman tilted her head slightly, russet locks falling over her mouth and right eye. "Yeah?"

"We don't know how many of River Song's regenerations you have."

"Is that all you're concerned about? I will be fine. Just fine. Perfectly fine after this. Then I will take you anywhere. I say, we can go on vacation." Thirteen gasped and took the hand that was on her shoulder into both of her own. "We can go shopping! Huh?!" Her eyes widened a little as she nodded.

A small laugh escaped Clara at the look on her friend's face. "Okay. Shopping. And a vacation."

"Anywhere you like, but first..." She held up Brenda's badge and shook it. Clara nodded.

"Right." Clara followed Thirteen out of the TARDIS, surprised that they were in the very same ally they had landed in when the spacecraft had gone on a strike. Once they had made it to the main sidewalk, Clara looked around for the bank they would get money from later that afternoon. The digital clock told them it was just after ten that morning, and Clara continued to follow the Thirteenth Doctor, assuming the older woman knew where they were going. She was right, as they walked almost a mile longer (stopping at a coffee shop along the way, where Thirteen decided this new body loved green tea but not Clara's hot chocolate) before they got to what Clara assumed was Brenda's precinct.

"Your ID my friend," Thirteen said, handing Clara familiar psychic paper, and holding onto another for herself. Clara saw nothing on it of course, but that didn't stop her from glancing at it. Thirteen showed her psychic paper to the guards outside, who let her in. "Good morning! My name is," Thirteen looked at the psychic paper and said, "Sharon. Sharon sounds like a good name for this body." Clara cleared her throat. "Yes, I am Sharon Raydor, and I have an appointment to speak with Chief Brenda... Johnson?" she finished.

"Upstairs." the person at the reception desk said, handing her two visitors' passes. 'Sharon' smiled and nodded towards Clara, who followed after her. The two of them took the elevator and were silent on the way up, though the Doctor found herself swaying a little bit with whatever music was currently in her head. As soon as the elevator stopped, she stood straight again and began walking out into the offices in search of Chief Brenda Johnson. Clara thought the Doctor really belonged there and may have even been in command.

There were only three people in the offices at the moment other than the three women, all of who were moving around and not paying them much attention. Clara and Thirteen ignored them as well as their eyes saw Brenda at the same time. The blonde woman looked up when Thirteen said, "Excuse me."

"May I help you?"

"Wow, your accent," Thirteen said right away. Clara caught up to the Doctor as she stood face to face with Brenda, very much alive, only this time she wasn't in a uniform. She was now in a simpler red dress with white around the collar and chest. Thirteen cleared her throat a little when her eyes bounced to Clara and then back to the woman before her. "Hello, my name is Sharon Raydor and this is my niece and intern Clara... Raydor." She showed Brenda the psychic paper with confidence and waited for woman to look it over. "We've got a case in San Diego that lead us here, a James Dillard-Cohen showed up as a witness in a statement here about four months ago. I was told to speak with you about possibly getting access to it in order to help us find him."

"James Dillard-Cohen. Doesn't ring a bell. Let me check our system here."

"I gotta say, I am charmed by your accent," Thirteen said. Clara looked at the Doctor and resisted the urge to nudge her. If this was her way of distraction, the new Doctor needed to practice. The Doctor in a bow tie may have been able to get away with such antics, but she wasn't sure how 'Sharon' could pull it off. She kept still and quiet so that she wouldn't be the one to blow their cover.

"Uh, thank you," Brenda responded. She seemed skeptical, but she twisted in her office chair and typed in the pass code to get to its desktop.

"Atlanta, say more traditional, right? Not much like it would be now adays."

"Why yes," Brenda said. She looked up, startled.

"Fantastic. Always wanted an accent. Not the drab boring way I speak now." Clara's lips went thin as she turned away to hide the laugh.

"I think you sound very nice. What you may lack in an accent, you make up for in hair," Brenda offered. "I'd die for hair like yours."

"Not really," Thirteen, running her fingers through the strands that swooped over her forehead, "I just sort of... woke up this way." She gave Brenda a warm smile, which was returned.

"Most women aren't so lucky." Brenda sighed. "Well, Ms. Raydor, I don't see his name on file here. Perhaps he is with a different division in our department, or it is possible he could be found in another district. I can direct you to another area that could help you further."

"That will be perfect, thank you." Thirteen held out her hand, and Brenda stood to shake it. As soon as their hands clasped, the Doctor leaned forward and kissed the blonde woman. With the desk between them the kiss was awkward and brief - barely more than three seconds, before 'Sharon' pulled away. Clara, wide eyed, watched as a small wisp of golden yellow light linked the two women's mouths before it slipped between Brenda's parted lips. Brenda looked at the Doctor in shock. "Was that not the traditional Atlanta goodbye? No. No, that's Athens. Oh no. Oh goodness, I am so sorry! Otherwise, that was quite inappropriate of me, wasn't it! I am sorry. I- I meant no harm!" Thirteen said.

Brenda brought up a hand and let out a slightly flustered laugh. "It's... fine, but be glad you didn't try that on any other 'Southern Belle'. They may not take it so well."

"I really am sorry."

"Don't worry about it." Brenda wrote down the number for what Clara assumed was the precinct's filing basement, and sent the two of them on their way.

In the elevator, Clara said, "You sly..." She shook her head. " 'Not a Southern goodbye.' I can't believe she bought that," Clara continued to say. She looked at the Doctor, who winked at her, and otherwise said nothing. There was a satisfied grin that remained on the Time Lord's face until they got back to the TARDIS. "So..."

"I have to go see if it worked," Thirteen said, answering the question Clara handn't yet asked. She pointed to the handle that Clara had held down on their way to the past, and she held it again, this time in the reverse, and watched as the Doctor moved around the rest of the console.

Clara was almost too afraid to leave the TARDIS this time, but she did anyway. They weren't in the alleyway as she had at first expected. Of course they wouldn't be, as the TARDIS was already there with the past version of her and the man Thirteen once was. Instead, they were next to a shop selling props from movie sets, and the blue police box fit right in.

"Clever," Clara murmured when she saw this.

"As usual," Thirteen replied with a smirk. She reached into her pocket and used the sonic screwdriver to test the air. "The time stream is getting a little unstable. We can't stay here very long. I regret that I won't be able to do anything more in this time and place. I can't help the men in the restaurant without the whole time line from here on collapsing in on itself. Also, if it doesn't work..." Clara nodded to this. She had faith in the Doctor, and she knew that the previous incarnations had done this very thing and more, but she also understood if her friend wanted to be a little more cautious this time around. Clara's footsteps became more and more hesitant the closer they had gotten to the Korean restaurant. Thirteen grabbed Clara's arm and motioned for her to wait as soon as they passed about a half a block away. The hold on her arm got tighter as the gunshots went off. "Turn away," she instructed in Clara's ear. "She can't see you when she goes, and we can't see ourselves once we leave back to the TARDIS to try and save her," Thirteen explained a moment later when Clara did as she was told.

"I understand," was all the younger woman said. Clara didn't know how long she waited with Thirteen, who, like her, seemed to be straining her ears for their 'cue' to reenter the restaurant. Clara then heard her own voice from within calling for the Doctor. She peeked a glance a moment later, which was just long enough to see the golden light from within the restaurant before Thirteen nudged her. Clara heard nothing else until '... and whatever you do, RUN!'

"Ready," Thirteen murmured. "That's right, I got my own readings on the screwdriver... There you go, Brand New Me... You know what you saw but just keep moving... Okay, we're gone. We can go in now," Thirteen said. She stepped away from Clara and the wall with a breath of relief. She then lead the way back inside.

Everything looked exactly as it had when Clara and the Doctor had left the horrible scene, only now that her head was a little less fear addled, Clara could see clearly all of the broken glass... and all of the blood. She swallowed as she glanced at the woman she had seen only moments before, only now she was once again lifeless. Thirteen hurried to the counter and knelt next to Brenda. She sat on her calves and waited in silence. Clara whispered into the air, "Please..." Her eyes became wet with tears as more seconds ticked by and nothing happened.

In the back, Brenda's partner called out to her, and got no reply. Thirteen's posture slumped with her heavy sigh. The Doctor had never done what River had. He never had the desire to. He had claimed to love his humans but clearly not enough to give up his own lives like River had. Had she gone about this the wrong way?

A broken gasp filtered into both Clara and Thirteen's thoughts, but it was the Doctor who went into motion as Clara could only let out a sob of relief. Thirteen's hand went to the back of Brenda's head to help the woman sit up. As the blonde woman exhaled, a small gust of gold left her lungs and dissipated. Thirteen pressed her cheek to Brenda's forehead as a tear fell under the rim of her glasses. "Shh-shh..." Thirteen soothed. She let the hand supporting Brenda's head run down the blonde strands. There was no wound there now, and she let out another, softer shushing sound. Then, she kissed Brenda on the forehead and gently let her back rest again on the counter.

"Doctor..."

"I know," Thirteen said. She reached into her pocket and found Brenda's badge, which she placed in the blonde woman's hands. She gently molded Brenda's fingers around it securely when the woman's only movement were the rise and fall of her chest. Thirteen then stood up. The two timetravelers heard the heaviness of boots and the static of a radio coming closer, the sound of Brenda's name being called from the other room. Thirteen grabbed Clara's wrist, and the two ran out of the restaurant, this time taking a harsh left instead of a right where their 'recent past' counterparts had gone. They didn't stop until they reached the TARDIS, their breaths hitched and tears now dried upon their cheeks. Clara fumbled for her key before they got to the door, placing it in the lock. She was surprised when the lock turned itself and the door opened into the console room. When Thirteen rushed to the controls, Clara followed after her, only touching the same lever when Thirteen pointed to it again. She also turned a couple of the dials when instructed, and the familiar whirring of the TARDIS comforted them both as the spacecraft went into motion.

"Alright?" Clara ventured to ask after they had been traveling through time and space for many moments in silence, the longest silence, in fact, since Thirteen had existed.

"I'm going to miss her accent," the Doctor admitted. Clara smiled sympathetically at this. Thirteen frowned in thought as she manipulated the TARDIS, and then she said, "I think... I think I might keep Sharon Raydor. No more Doctor."

"People know you as the Doctor all through the universe. It is the name they call to keep the monsters away." Clara said.

"Right you are, my friend." She twisted her mouth slightly in thought. "No more John Smith then," she decided. Clara nodded to this.

"No more John Smith, then," the brunette echoed.

There was silence for a little while longer before Thirteen caught her eye, and a small smile slowly made its way onto her new face. "So. Shopping?"

"Shopping," Clara said, though her heart wasn't into it. She could tell by looking at Thirteen that neither of her hearts were, either.

The End

*All Korean used in this story was taken from Google Translate and may not be completely correct. It is supposed to say "Go! We're closed! We're Closed!" "Go!" but translating it back to English tells me it means something about holidays, WTF?


End file.
